T-shirt with sleeve extensions

ABSTRACT

T-shirt type garment with a main body portion similar to a conventional T-shirt with short sleeves. Permanently attached to the end of the short sleeves are sleeve extensions. The sleeve extensions are attached in a way that gives the appearance of a T-shirt worn over a sweatshirt. The sleeve extension may have a contrasting color to the sweatshirt. A dual collar arrangement simulates the appearance of layered garments, the T-shirt portion appearing to be worn over a sweatshirt portion.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention concerns apparel. More particularly, the invention is directed to a T-shirt with sleeve portions attached thereto.

2. Description of the Prior Art

Informal upper body apparel such as T-shirts, are often provided with logos, designs, etc., which can only be seen if the T-shirt is the outermost garment worn. However, in many situations, the weather is too cool to allow a T-shirt to be worn as the outermost garment, and a sweater or sweatshirt is often used to cover up the T-shirt. To allow a T-shirt logo to be seen, the T-shirt must be worn over the sweater or sweatshirt. This has been done so often that seeing the T-shirt over sweatshirt combination is commonplace even when there is no logo on the T-shirt. While this arrangement is acceptable during the cool seasons, in warm weather it may be uncomfortable to wear such a layered clothing arrangement.

U.S. Pat. No. 5,918,315 recognizes this problem and attempts to solve it by providing a “fashion sleeve”, a removable clothing accessory that can be attached to the end portion of a short sleeve shirt. The problem with this arrangement is that it results in a “cheap” looking garment, one that has the feel of a novelty item and thus would be rejected by any fashion conscious user. Also, the sleeve portions, once removed, can be lost or forgotten.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Briefly, the invention comprises a T-shirt type garment with a main body portion similar to a conventional T-shirt with short sleeves. Permanently attached to the end of the short sleeves are sleeve extensions. The sleeve extensions are attached in a way that gives the appearance of a T-shirt worn over a sweatshirt. The sleeve extension may have a contrasting color to the sweatshirt. A dual collar arrangement simulates the appearance of layered garments, the T-shirt portion appearing to be worn over a sweatshirt portion.

It is a major object of this invention to provide an improved combined T-shirt/sweatshirt garment.

It is another object to provide a combined T-shirt/sweatshirt garment having a permanently attached sleeve portion with a contrasting color.

It is another object to provide a combined T-shirt/sweatshirt garment having a permanently attached sleeve portion designed to appear separate from the T-shirt.

It is another object to provide a combined T-shirt/sweatshirt garment having a permanently attached sleeve portion where the sleeve fabric has a dissimilar texture than the T-shirt portion.

Finally, it is a general goal of the invention to provide improved elements and arrangements thereof in an apparatus for the purposes described which is dependable and fully effective in accomplishing its intended purposes.

These and other objects of the present invention will become readily apparent upon further review of the following specification and drawings.

The present invention meets or exceeds all the above objects and goals. Upon further study of the specification and appended claims, further objects and advantages of this invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Various other objects, features, and attendant advantages of the present invention will become more fully appreciated as the same becomes better understood when considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which like reference characters designate the same or similar parts throughout the several views, and wherein:

FIG. 1 shows a plan view, partly in section of the garment of the invention.

FIG. 2 shows a close up of a portion of the garment shown in FIG. 1, detailing the connection of sleeve and main body portions.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Referring now to FIGS. 1 and 2 the garment of the present invention, generally indicated by the numeral 10, is shown. It can be seen that the garment 10 is essentially a composite garment, having both an overlapped collar portion 20 and an extended sleeve portion 22, giving the appearance of a layered garment. Specifically, the garment 10 is designed to simulate a T-shirt worn over a sweatshirt. The advantage provided by this configuration, as opposed to layering garments, is that one can get the appearance of the sweatshirt/T-shirt combination without the bulkiness of extra clothing. Additionally, the fabric can be varied to suit any temperature conditions. For example, a lightweight, breathable fabric can be used for hot weather situations, a medium weight fabric for cool weather, and a heavyweight, fleece fabric for cold weather. Despite the thickness or type of fabric, the fabric of the sleeve portion 22 preferably is textured to appear dissimilar from the T-shirt portion 24. Thus, the T-shirt portion 24 may be made from traditional lightweight combed cotton fabric, whereas the sleeve portion 22 may be made from fleece or a fabric designed to look like fleece.

The garment 10 has three basic components, a T-shirt portion or T-shirt 24, a collar portion 20, and sleeve extension or portion 22. The T-shirt 24 may be a standard heavy weight cotton T-shirt such as the type typically used for rendering and displaying graphic images. The appearance of the garment 10 may be enhanced by using high quality fabrics such as silk, or a silk/cotton blend or the like for the T-shirt 24. Collar portion 26 is formed about an uppermost opening through which the head and neck of the wearer can extend, and includes a primary or functional T-shirt collar 30, and a secondary or false collar 34 that serves to provide the appearance of a layered garment. The primary T-shirt collar 30 is formed of a section of folded fabric that may be elasticated as is known in the art to fit snugly about the neck of the wearer. The false collar 34 is made from the same type and color of fabric as the sleeve portion 22 and is stitched or otherwise attached interiorly of T-shirt collar 30. Stitching 35 for the false collar 34, preferably overlaps stitching for T-shirt collar 30 to be indistinguishable therefrom. Of course, the same stitching may be used for both collars 30, 34. Alternatively, the false collar may be attached further interiorly of the uppermost opening, with stitching 35 hidden, employing any of several means known in the art.

To ensure that the garment 10 maintains a layered appearance, upper opening 27 of sleeve portion 22 is stitched or otherwise securely attached to the inner surface 28 of the end portion 30 of T-shirt sleeve 32. The stitching 36 should not extend through the end portion or cuff 30 of the T-shirt sleeve 32. One method of accomplishing this would be to stitch through one layer of material of the cuff 30, as the cuff 30 is always doubled back and stitched to the sleeve 32, effectively providing an extra layer of fabric. Other ways of ensuring stitching 36 is not visible may be employed as would be apparent to one of skill in the art. The lower opening 40 of the sleeve portion 22 is preferably formed of an elasticated end portion or cuff 42, as would be typical of a sweatshirt. Alternatively, the cuff 42 could be relatively short, or there could be no discernible cuff.

To enhance the layered garment appearance further, the color of the fabric used for the sleeve portion 22 and false collar 34, which are made from the same material as previously stated, is preferably chosen to contrast with the color of T-shirt portion 24. For example, T-shirt portion 24 may be black, while sleeve portion 22 and false collar 34 are gold or white.

From the foregoing description, one skilled in the art can easily ascertain the essential characteristics of this invention and, without departing from the spirit and scope thereof, can make various changes and modifications of the invention to adapt it to various usages and conditions.

It is to be understood that the present invention is not limited to the sole embodiment described above, but encompasses any and all embodiments within the scope of the following claims: 

1. A composite garment comprising: a T-shirt portion having opposed sleeves, each of said sleeves having an opening; a collar portion, said collar portion including a primary collar and a secondary collar; and, a pair of sleeve extensions, said sleeve extensions attached to and extending from respective ones of said opposed T-shirt sleeves, said sleeve extensions secured interiorly of said openings; said T-shirt portion formed of a first fabric, and said sleeve extensions and said secondary collar formed of a second fabric.
 2. The garment of claim 1 wherein said secondary collar is attached interiorly of said primary collar.
 3. The garment of claim 1 wherein said T-shirt portion fabric has a first color, and said sleeve extensions and said secondary collar fabric has a second color.
 4. The garment of claim 1 wherein said first color and said second color are contrasting. 